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Espanyol boss Manolo Gonzalez insists he does not want to lose Joan Garcia after reports suggested the goalkeeper had agreed personal terms with Arsenal.
The Gunners identified Garcia, 23, as a summer target as they prepared to sell current goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Ramsdale was Mikel Arteta’s first-choice shot-stopper a little over a year ago but lost his place in the team to David Raya.
With his prospects of first-team football now looking bleak, Ramsdale has been urged to leave Arsenal by the likes of Emmanuel Petit and Emiliano Martinez.
Wolves and Southampton expressed interest in signing the England international but neither deal looks particularly close, meaning Arsenal are running out of time to get the 26-year-old off their books.
When it looked as though Ramsdale was heading for the exit door, Arsenal began searching for his replacement and viewed Espanyol’s Garcia as an ideal target.
Reports claimed Arsenal had even agreed personal terms with the Spaniard and were set to bring him to the Emirates Stadium as Arteta’s back-up goalkeeper.
Espanyol manager Gonzalez was asked about the future of Garcia at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday and admitted he ‘hopes’ he will still be at the club beyond Friday’s European transfer deadline.
‘He is a very good goalkeeper, I am calm when he plays,’ the 45-year-old said about Garcia, who helped Spain win Olympic gold at Paris 2024.
‘I don’t know about the transfer market, although I hope he doesn’t leave. What the club tells me is that he should not leave unless a club comes and nothing can be done.
‘He is a great goalkeeper, but the level of the goalkeepers I have is very high.’
Garcia, who is believed to have a release clause worth £25m, was also linked with Arsenal’s Premier League rivals Liverpool earlier in the summer.
But Liverpool have turned their attentions to Euro 2024 star Giorgi Mamardashvili in recent days are set to bring him to Anfield from Valencia.
Garcia, meanwhile, was asked about speculation linking him with a move to Premier League runners-up Arsenal last week.
‘I am very calm,’ he told reporters following Espanyol’s 1-0 defeat to Real Valladolid. ‘I am a person who isolates himself from all this and I am focused on next Saturday’s game.
‘In football, these things do not depend on oneself, but I am very happy here.’
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